Frames of Reference
by sqbr
Summary: Life goes on after the end of Mass Effect 3. Set after "Action and Reaction".


The brute tore through EDI's body like tissue paper. By the time it was done, she was little more than scraps and broken limbs.

"Goddamn fucking Reapers!" shouted James, and then he stood up from behind the rock he'd been covering behind and shot and shot until he was out of ammo and the brute was a smoking ruin of wires and charred flesh beside EDI's own remains. Not that EDI was _dead_ exactly, there was still the copy on the Normandy, but it was still upsetting to see a squadmate torn to pieces like that.

Kaidan tried not to let himself become equally overcome, and coldly took out the last few husks as they lurched towards his position. This was all supposed to be _over_. Shepard had sacrificed herself to destroy the Reapers, had merged herself with the merciless machines and then forced herself to die a billion deaths so that _noone else would have to die any more_, and yet here they were, six months later, and while the Reapers themselves were gone their obscene creations were still threatening innocent people, still requiring the ultimate sacrifice from the Normandy and her crew.

At least that seemed to be all of them, for now. And there was a look of decay about the husks they saw these days, as if whatever weird process powered the modified corpses was starting to wind down. Hopefully, if they were lucky, any remaining husks would eventually just...decay, and they could all get back to the task of rebuilding and getting on with their lives. The system they'd ended up in after the mass relays were destroyed was quite heavily populated, and even without the ability to leave the system the Normandy still found plenty to do as the galaxy slowly rebuilt after the war. Liara was still working as the Shadow Broker, and they were still officially an Alliance vessel. Thanks to their quantum communication device, being unable to enter Alliance space didn't mean Kaidan was out of communication with his superiors: Even when everything else was in tatters, bureaucracy always found a way.

The asari colony they'd come to help didn't look too badly damaged, at least, one of the soldiers they'd been working with was favouring an injured leg, and some of the buildings looked a little worse for wear, but there didn't seem to be any serious casualties. Good.

Now Kaidan just had to get back to the Normandy and tell Joker what had happened to his girlfriend. He was not looking forward to that conversation.

"Hey Major," said Joker, with a friendly smile. Well, friendly for Joker.

"Joker..." Kaidan began, "It's about EDI..."

"Man, yeah, what a bummer, right? Cortez and Liara are having a look at her, but they said she'll probably have to be sent off to an expert for repairs."

"Oh," said Kaidan. "I didn't realise...I thought she'd been totally destroyed."

"Nah, Cerberus builds them tough," said Joker. "Like this old girl, right?" He patted the Normandy's console. "And don't forget Shepard, the only way the Reapers brought _her_ down was by going down with her. It would take a lot more than a couple of brutes to take EDI down for good."

"Good point," said Kaidan with a smile. "Well, I hope you can survive without her for a little while."

"What do you mean without her? She's still here, aren't you EDI?"

"Of course," said EDI. "Major Alenko, I know that I encouraged yourself and the rest of the crew to think of my mobile platform as _me_, but it was only a useful physical extension. Part of my body may be destroyed, but my mind remains intact."

"Of course, sorry, I didn't mean...but...I know that you two are, uh, intimate...and..." Was he really talking to his subordinates about their sex lives? Shepard had been a bad influence on him. "You know what? Never mind. I'm sorry about your body, EDI, and I'm glad you should be getting it back. Talk to you both later." He started to leave the helm and walk towards CIC.

Joker laughed after him. "Hey, easy mistake. But I should warn you, Major, you should probably knock before you go into the AI core from now on."

Kaidan turned back to stare at Joker. He was joking, right? Joker waggled his eyebrows and grinned."Talk to you later!" he said, and then rotated his chair back around with a cheery swing to go back to typing on the Normandy's console.

Life might never go back to the way it was, but it would always go on.


End file.
